wedding

May 16, 2012

Our wedding was a DIY affair from top to bottom. With the exception of the food and our attire, we did everything ourselves. Our budget was modest, so I knew I'd have to do a lot of stuff myself if I wanted to have the wedding I envisioned. It was a fun and challenging and sometimes altogether daunting process, but in the end, I was thrilled with how everything turned out. With the help of Kyle and a few of my wonderful friends, and a lot of trial and error, we were able to pull off a wedding that looked exactly like I'd dreamed it would, on a budget that I wasn't sure would allow it.

A few of my DIY projects:

Antique blue mason jars are expensive. Especially when you need a bunch of them, and want them to exist in a variety of smaller-than-standard heights — which they don't. I had this vision for my centerpieces: six blue mason jars in varying heights, filled with flowers and candles and surrounded by moss. I needed a total of 90 blue glass jars. I knew that the only possible way I could get them was to make them myself. So my awesome bridesmaid, Adriana, and I hand-painted 90 clear glass jars with glass paint, baked them in the oven, and were left with a collection of blue glass that was so pretty, it might as well have been the real thing.

I bought my jars in Canada and couldn't seem to track down any clear Ball jars (the brand that makes most of the recognizable, antique mason jars), so I went with a different brand instead. They were about $10 for a crate of 12. Using Ball jars would probably cost slightly more, but would look even better and would make the end result a dead ringer for the real, antique version.

How to: Dilute the turquoise paint with the glass paint thinner, in approx. a 1:2 ratio (one part paint, two parts thinner). Paint the outside and bottom of the jar in thin, even strokes. Let dry for 24 hours. Bake in oven for 45 minutes at 325 F. Done!

Time taken: Several days, for 90 jars.

These are two separate projects, but I didn't really have an individual shot of each of them. These were both elements that were floating around in my head almost from the very beginning of my wedding planning, and I love how they both turned out.

DIY place cards: I had this idea in my head of creating simple place cards reminiscent of short, typewritten lines in a script. I actually hand-drew this typewriter font, because I couldn't find one that had all the elements I was looking for. I know this sounds insane. It really only took me a few hours, though!

Tips: This is easy and pretty straightforward, I think. Oh, ignore my inconsistent font sizes in the two cards above. I completely forgot to make one for myself and when making it last minute, I made the font too small. Consistent size is best, regardless of name length!

Time taken: An afternoon.

DIY no-sew bunting: I wanted to make pink bunting to line the edges of the head table but knew that it would have to be at least 30 feet long to cover the entire length of our U-shaped table. Sewing was not an option, so my bridesmaid Adriana and I resorted to simply just cutting the triangles with pinking shears (the zig zag edges help prevent fraying), and adhering them to the ribbon with fabric glue. It was super easy and worked out perfectly! I probably wouldn't hang it in my house, because it has frayed over time, but it was perfect for one night.

Time taken: A few days. A perfect project to knock out while watching a few movies!

My labor-of-love (hate) invitations. I stamped all of the text on the paper by hand and then embossed it (raised it up) using embossing powder and a heat gun. The seafoam backing was hand-painted onto Kraft cardstock (that was the fun part!). Unfortunately, this picture doesn't really illustrate the embossing at all, but the text is all raised and the gold shines (our names are gold, even though they don't really look that way in this photo).

I love how they turned out, but they were an ordeal. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to DIY all paper elements of our wedding. I love the look of embossed invitations and started to wonder if there was any way that I could emboss my own, by hand. I stumbled across a tutorial on how to emboss a stamp — the tutorial was for a tiny little stamp, on an envelope, mind you — and thought, what if I try that for my entire invitation? I thought it would be a piece of cake. Famous last words.

It took me weeks to stamp and emboss these invitations. Hundreds of hours. They required such precision, and it was so easy to mess them up in several different ways. Plus, there was zero room for even the tiniest error because of how noticeable it would be. It was an incredibly frustrating project, to say the least.

How to: This was a very complicated process that's probably too elaborate for me to get into in this post, but I can make a detailed post about the whole DIY at some point, if anyone is interested!

Time taken: Forever.

These little programs were probably my favorite DIY element of my wedding. They were as personal as can be and I loved the idea of creating a simple, pretty cover with a fun, visually impactful interior. Our little silhouettes may be my favorite part! These were truly a labor of love. They took a lot of trial and error, but I was so thrilled with the result. If I did them over, I'd probably make some changes to the fonts and layout, but I still absolutely love them and they remain my very favorite keepsake from my wedding day.

Tips: A project like this is completely up to your own customization. For attaching a doily to cardstock, I'd recommend using a combination of spray adhesive and permanent tape. The adhesive just did not do the trick and some of the doilies tended to peel up. I secured them with invisible bits of tape, hidden under the more solid parts of the doily, and it worked out perfectly.

I did several other DIY projects for my wedding, but thought that these four would be a good selection to share! If you have any questions about any of them, just ask away!

I honestly can't thank you all enough times for all the sweet, wonderful, and incredibly touching comments that you've been leaving me this week. I can't wait to check out all of your blogs over the next few days. Being able to connect with so many new, awesome people — whom I may never encounter otherwise — is absolutely my favorite part of blogging. I am so sorry if you've reached out to me but haven't heard back yet. (Emails included. I'm behind on those this week too, sadly.) Every single one of your comments makes me smile and means more than you know. Truly, truly.

May 15, 2012

I shared part one of our wedding photos last Thursday. These are the second part: our first photos together as a married couple and snippets of our barn reception.

All of our wedding photos were taken by the incredible Cliff Marck. If you're in the Toronto/Windsor/Detroit area and are in need of some pretty photos, of your wedding or otherwise, definitely get in touch. He's wonderful.

I can't express enough how happy I was with our photos. Because of the rain, we had to do most of our post-ceremony photographs inside, which of course was not ideal, but our photographer Cliff went above and beyond to make it work. The rain added depth and beauty to our pictures. They are so us, in every single way. Sun would have been lovely, but our day and our photographs would have had an entirely different feel. It's funny that I spent nine months hoping for a bright, sunny wedding day and then when it actually came down to it, I wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way. Every time it rains, we look at each other and smile. We love the rain. We always have. Rain on our wedding day was as perfect as can be.

May 14, 2012

Not one year of being together, or one year of loving each other. Not one year of anything feeling different, or really being different. Being married hasn't changed us or our relationship. But it's been one year of something a bit special. Something that doesn't define our lives or our love every day, but it's always there and it just feels good.

All of our special albums are about breaking up. Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. They mean something else to me. We fell in love while listening to them. They remind me of something I never want to lose.

We're not perfect. We have challenges and we work through them. That's what a relationship is, and that's what life is. I just love him. He makes happier than anything else I've ever known. Everything starts and stops with him for me, and I can't put it any simpler than that. I love you, Kyle. And I love being married to you. Happy anniversary :)

On another note, I cannot thank you all enough for your incredibly sweet and meaningful comments on my wedding photos and on my guest post over at Little Chief Honeybee this weekend. I was seriously blown away by your kind words and honestly can't even tell you how much they mean to me. I'm so excited for the chance to meet so many new readers and bloggers through my post over there. Thank you so much for stopping by!

If you didn't get a chance to read my post at Little Chief Honeybee, you can find it here. It's the story of how Kyle and I met and fell in love while living in Korea. I thought our anniversary weekend might be the perfect time to share it, in more depth than I have on here before. I'm also offering a giveaway over there for one free "complete package" blog design. If you're looking for a fresh new look for your blog, or even just some new design elements, definitely head over and enter!